Chapter 54 - Northward

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We set out to the north border that morning, with Zhi, Heng Li, and the Empress to see us off since the Emperor was apparently indisposed.

She approached me and thanked me for helping Li, who had asked her to come and see me for a ‘treatment’. I rolled my eyes at the term, but quickly scanned her, not finding anything wrong. Clearly, the poisoner had very specific targets within the palace. I asked her to take good care of my sister and the Emperor in my absence, to which she simply smiled.

On the saddle again, we rode all the way to the Ji river where we took a boat that would lead us to Ji and eventually the Huang-He. Seeing the place where I once embarked with Fa Min and Ling was a bit of a wake-up call for me. So many things had changed in the previous months that not only my friends weren’t with me, but I was marching into war and in a completely different atmosphere.

Fei and An had been accommodating, but as soon as we left the Imperial Capital, both had changed dramatically. Only now showing how much a burden this period away from their troops had been.

Days passed slowly as our boat sailed upstream, and I couldn’t help but notice the significant changes in both the landscape and the people, as we traveled further north than what I had ever been before.

People were scared, not only of the barbarians coming at them from the north but from the few of us that went upstream to face them. A strange occurrence in my mind, since I had thought that we would be seen as saviors... but in their minds, we must have been simply ‘more violent men’. People this far from the capital knew very little of the state of the empire... or of the Empire itself.

Sure, the landlords were servants of the empire and thus had to show some patriotism, but the common folk did not. For them, the Empire was simply an abstract idea created by people too far removed from their simple lives, that there was just no middle ground, no point of reference.

How different it was from the Chinese people I met in the future, where everyone was very proud of their roots. Sacrificing time, blood, and tears for the betterment of their country.

Five days into our journey, we began seeing the first signs of battle: burnt buildings, some battlefields, and throngs slowly and pitifully moving south. Women and children mostly, which meant that the men had either been killed or were participating in the struggle to save their homes.

I shook my head at the number of people affected by the war.

“What will happen to them?” I asked An while General Fei perused the maps and messages received from the north. Plenty of messenger birds had reached us in the past days, giving us more information about the true state of the border.

“Most will turn to crime or prostitution to survive, until the Empire tires of them and hunts them down. But for the few that resist the temptation, the Empire has saved resources to rebuild their lands and fields. It will take time, but the country will recover.”

The bitter truth was that, despite all the knowledge I possessed from the future, there was very little I could do for these people. I had very little experience in how to tend fields or run a country, I didn’t have godly powers to give them the food and resources they would need to survive the coming weeks and months (and even if I did, I would simply be making them depend on me for the time being, instead of creating a solution).

I wanted to curse at my own lack of knowledge, but truth be told, that too would serve no purpose other than to belittle myself.

No, if I wanted to help these people, I needed to do something real now, not something hypothetical.

The only real way I could help these people was to end the war as soon as possible.

On the last leg of the travel, and to save the oarsmen some grief, I used chi-magic to propel the boat at a greater speed while the captain steered.

Even the General was impressed.

“Tell me Prince, why not do this from the start?” An asked, despite the glare he received from his commanding officer.

“Moving a whole boat is no simple task, I could probably keep this pace for a couple of hours a day, but I would have arrived totally spent.” That was just partially true. Ever since I had conquered the eight Heavenly Tribulation, the amount of chi I had at my disposal was simply staggering, so I could have kept the boat going for much longer. The truth of the matter really was that I hadn’t thought of it, immersed as I was in taking in the sights and thinking of ways to help the empire recover from the war once it was over.

Losing myself in my mind was one of my better/worse traits, even in this new life.

We finally reached our destination close to midday, a lone rider waiting for us at the shore, wearing the same blood-red armor my two companions were. He had three other horses patiently waiting for us.

“General!” The man greeted Fei first with a genial smile “We were told to expect you later today.” The man then offered An and me a baoquan, that is until he spotted the golden lion pin on my chest.

“Your majesty!” He fell to his knees, and I sighed.

“At ease, soldier.” I sighed and got off the ship before An and Fei, who were more used to the way I was. The poor soldier appeared to be rather afraid. I saw him turn to Fei in askance, when the General nodded at him, he finally rose from his knees. He took us to the horses which we rode for about half an hour until we got to an open field with many tents.

I blinked and looked around... but there was no sight of the Great Wall. There were plains as far as the eye could see and then… dunes? Intellectually I knew that China had a desert, but I never thought I’d see it… or such a contrast between the great yellow pastures and the red sand.

No wonder the enemies had had such an easy time raiding the villages this far north. The country was just too big and there was no definite defense. The most they had were sentry towers and patrols. It wouldn’t take but a bit of planning and watching to route such paltry defenses.

“No matter how many more monkeys you bring, they won’t make a difference! The gods of the hunt have spoken, and this land will soon be ours!” a demented laugh followed that bold statement and I turned in time to see one of the soldiers backslapping a man whose head was inside a mobile stock, despite being tied to a pole by his thumbs.

“Who is that man?” I heard myself asking without taking my eyes from him and the beating he was receiving.

“A prisoner. One of the few, most would rather die than be captured.” An commented with a self-satisfied grunt.

“What of the other prisoners?” I asked and An pointed to a side, where their bodies had been left to hang from a horizontal pole in a very crude spectacle that made my insides turn.

“The man spoke about the gods of the hunt, do any of you know-?”

“No.” The general cut my question off, not looking at me “They’re savages from the north, that is all we need to know.”

I glared at the general’s back before shaking my head “from this moment on, all prisoners must be brought to me first. Only in understating will we defeat them.”

I saw him frown but nodded. It seemed that our dear general was not keen on taking orders on the battlefield, especially since it was his men risking their lives to do as I commanded.

“General!”

“The General is back!”

“Welcome General Fei!”

Suddenly I found myself surrounded by at least a hundred or so soldiers, all wearing the same red armor An and Fei, even if theirs was dirty from fighting.

Using the men’s distraction to my advantage, I hid my golden lion pin under the wraps of my clothes and pulled my hood up over my head, hiding everything but my eyes. Despite the well-wishers and how many people were surrounding him, wanting to hear good news, Captain An turned to me just as I finished my disguise and ordered him to shut up with a gesture.

“General, is the Empire sending the army?” The dreaded question was finally answered.

After speaking to the generals, it had been decided that the Imperial Army would only arrive at the border once I had time to study the forces attacking us. That meant that, from this moment on, all the lives lost or gained at the border would be on my shoulders. That, of course, didn’t fill me with confidence, and probably neither would help the soldiers’ morale.

That is why I would be forever thankful for the General’s answer “They are coming” he lied easily “But there are so many soldiers that it will take them a long while getting here.” The man sent a covert look my way, discovering my disguise. “In the meantime, the Emperor has sent us a very special warrior”.

Clearly enjoying himself putting me on the spot, the General pointed at me “Is that not so, Long Mu?”

I glared at him from under my guise but didn’t contradict him. Thankfully, he hadn’t used my full name, otherwise, the ruse would be for naught. “It is so, General,” I answered, making my voice a little lower than normal through earth-breathing so that I wouldn’t sound so young.

“One soldier?” one of the men asked, looking at me with disdain. “One soldier won’t make any difference! They are killing us by the dozens and the empire sent one man, what a joke!”

The man in question was an old one, with a dirty black beard and the squinty black eyes that kept glaring at me.

“Shu!” An shouted and glared at the man, sending a quick glance my way. “You don’t speak like that to a royal envoy!”

“But what good is he really?” the man named Shu continued “he doesn’t even carry a weapon!”

It was true. Both the General and Captain had offered me a sword and armor like theirs, but I had refused both. I wasn’t comfortable using weapons other than my fists, and there was no armor in this primitive world that was any better than my own magical defenses.

“I need no weapon,” I said, calmly staring at the man who was working himself into a frenzy. “You could try to harm me from anywhere in this camp and you won’t be able to do a thing… but that is something your little mind cannot understand yet.” I smiled inside my disguise, for some reason, I felt as if I were a bad guy bragging… but the truth was that the strength and powers born from traversing the heavenly tribulations were incomprehensible until you put them to the test. I could bend most metal weapons with little effort between my hands, I could lift and break stones that were twice my size, I healed faster, and my body could move and jump faster and higher than even the fastest horses.

If I were to pit myself against others, I believe that it would take more than a hundred armed men to bring me down.

And still… I was only one person.

“That’s a load of bull!” the man glared at me, and I chuckled.

I jumped down from my horse and walked calmly until I was a couple of steps from him. “Then let’s test it. Attack me.”

The camp fell silent and many of the soldiers were looking between Shu, myself, and the General, who appeared to be torn between glaring at us and sighing.

“Would that be fine, General?” I looked back at him and winked, “A little competition might make your men a bit more confident in the reinforcements sent by the palace.”

His glaring intensified for a moment before he sighed “very well. Men, form a circle!”

An went to my side immediately, whispering furiously “are you sure, your ma-” my glare made him shut up “Shu might be a burly old goat, but he’s an experienced warrior-!”

My hand fell on his shoulder, and he quieted down. “Peace, An. I know what I’m doing. Trust me… or more importantly, trust in the Emperor.” He frowned and shook his head before sighing.

“Very well… I shall trust.” He offered me a baoquan before moving back to the edge of the circle that had formed around us.

I looked around to watch the faces of all the soldiers. They were having fun, a good thing for morale. Then I turned to Shu, who was glaring at me with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

I switched to earth breathing and immediately my body hardened.

‘No interruptions this time, oh spirit of mine’ I asked my other self.

‘If I thought you needed help, I’d intervene, no matter what you said.’

I chuckled internally ‘at least, I count on you to always remain true to our mission.’

‘That you do.’

I stood up straight and looked at the man “are we waiting for something?”

He glared and pulled out his sword, intending to hit me on the arm. Unfortunately for him, with my heightened senses, he was moving rather slowly, so I stepped forward in-between moments and lightly hit him on the chest plate.

A crack tore the air, and he was propelled backward ten feet and crashed into some of the other soldiers. In my head, I heard the sound of a bowling ball hitting the pins and couldn’t help but smile.

The whole circle kept looking at me with wide eyes while Shu fought to get up.

“Let’s finish this” I switched to fire-breathing and the world slowed even more around me, I ran to Shu and simply grabbed the sword by the blade. Fire-chi accumulated between my fingers, heating, bending, and eventually breaking the metal.

To normal people, it looked as if the blade suddenly came off the hilt.

I relaxed my breathing and time flowed normally again. Shu was pale as a ghost, watching as my fingers snapped his weapon in two after I practically materialized at his side.

“D-demon!” he hissed and moved as far away from me as he could.

“I’m no demon,” I said calmly, taking the blade with me. “I am the Empire’s protector… and I don’t take insults lightly.” I sent a glare back to the man who hissed in fear and simply ran away.

Calmly, I made my way to An and put the blade in his hands. “I will see our prisoner now, then I will need a tour of the battlefield or a description from your best scouts. I expect to have a place to rest by nightfall.”

“C-certainly, your m-” One glare from me made his next words catch in his throat. I didn’t go to the extent of hiding my identity for him to blurt it out as an afterthought. Instead, An lowered his eyes to the piece of metal in his hands. “Certainly, Long Mu.”

I nodded and parted ways with them. I wanted to check on our only captive… something he had said had caught my attention.

The circle of soldiers parted to let me pass, giving me a very wide berth.

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